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I lived up the Amazon with Caboclo Indians for three months at one point.
Fifty-fifty though I've read quite a few anthropology books, this was still interesting. I thing I learned was that the main tool of anthropologists was longI lived up the Amazon with Caboclo Indians for 3 months at i point. Practice y'all thinks someone might fund me to go and live with them for a couple of years? They have such lovely lives and I could do with a good long holiday. I'one thousand not bad at writing and I'm ok at statistics too, and then I'm sure I could come up with a written report at the stop of information technology. Now how to get that grant!
...moreچند وقت پيش چند تا عكس بى نظير ديدم از مجله ى نشنال جئوگرافى. عكاس يه ايرانى بود به نام حميد سردار افخمى. عكس ها مربوط به بيابانگردهاى مغول بود. اون دوره زياد شيفته ى مغول ها و تبتی ها و باقى ساكنان آسياى ميانه بودم و مى گشتم دنبال عكس هاشون.
توى اين عكس ها، قبيله هاى مغولی نشون داده شده بودن، با گوزن هاى بزرگ سفيدی كه مثل اسب اهلى كرده بودن و به عنوان مَركَب ازشون استفاده مى كردن. توى يه عكس يه دختر بچه ى مغول سوار بر يك گوزن بود. توى يه عكس ديگه يه گوزن نشسته بود، و يه پسر بچه بهش تكيه داده و
چند وقت پيش چند تا عكس بى نظير ديدم از مجله ى نشنال جئوگرافى. عكاس يه ايرانى بود به نام حميد سردار افخمى. عكس ها مربوط به بيابانگردهاى مغول بود. اون دوره زياد شيفته ى مغول ها و تبتی ها و باقى ساكنان آسياى ميانه بودم و مى گشتم دنبال عكس هاشون.
توى اين عكس ها، قبيله هاى مغولی نشون داده شده بودن، با گوزن هاى بزرگ سفيدی كه مثل اسب اهلى كرده بودن و به عنوان مَركَب ازشون استفاده مى كردن. توى يه عكس يه دختر بچه ى مغول سوار بر يك گوزن بود. توى يه عكس ديگه يه گوزن نشسته بود، و يه پسر بچه بهش تكيه داده و خوابش برده بود. توى فيلم هابيت صحنه اى هست كه اِلف ها گوزن سوار شدن؛ اما اين عكس ها واقعى بودن، جايى توى همين دنيا.
هر چقدر اين عكس ها نفسگير بودن، ايرانى بودن عكاس باعث دو برابر شدن هيجان مى شد: حميد سردار افخمى. با خودم فكر مى كردم يعنى كى بوده؟ چى شده كه سر از مغولستان درآورده؟ علاقه مند شدم و جستجوى مختصرى كردم و ديدم اين آقاى محترم، ماه ها رفته بين اين قبايل بيابانگرد زندگى كرده، اون هم بدون اين كه از دوربين عكاسى استفاده كنه، چون موجب بى اعتمادى بومى ها مى شده، تا عاقبت به عنوان يه دوست بين مغول ها پذيرفته شده و بالاخره تونسته عكاسى رو شروع كنه و اين صحنه هاى باشكوه رو ثبت كنه.
از اون موقع، اين زندگى برام شده بود يه جور رؤيا. از اون دست رؤياهايى كه مى دونى هيچ وقت براى تو محقق نميشن، اما دوست دارى توى جيبت نگه شون دارى و هر از چندى در بيارى و بین دوتا دست بگیری و تماشاشون كنى، تا درخشش شون سينه ت رو پر كنه.
اين كتاب چيزى از جنس همون درخشش رو بين صفحاتش داشت.
...moreتاریخ نخستین خوانش: دوازدهم ماه مارس سال 2015 م
عنوان: انسان شناسی اجتماعی و فرهنگی ؛ نویسنده: جان موناگان (ماناگن)؛ پیتر جاست؛ مترجم: احمدرضا تقاء؛ تهران، ماهی، 1393، در 211 ص، مصور، نقشه، نمایه، شابک: 9789642090365؛ موضوع: قوم شناسی قرن 21 م
ا. شربیانی
This volume resonated with Barenboim & Said's 'Parallels and Paradoxes'; I think its about trying to
What a relief from the turgid and paranoid academic writing I usually have to pile through. Yes, there are problems with Anthropological approaches, and yeah there is no cease to ethics discussions about representation, but how wonderful to read a book that states a confident belief in the worth and usefulness of stepping out of your cultural boundaries and attempting to see through the optics of others.This book resonated with Barenboim & Said'south 'Parallels and Paradoxes'; I call up its nigh trying to grapple with rationality without losing a perspective that is both intimately emotional and cosmically scientific - or perhaps with what Barenboim calls 'meta-rationality'. For me, this means using reason, merely moving beyond its blandishments of final resolutions and infinite growth/progress and accepting that to be human is to be able to glimpse that which is not wholly knowable. We alive for 70 odd years, just can understand the altitude between stars, and the time information technology took continents to form. Every bit individuals, we cannot accept part in that history (our species' history volition probably only amount to a ripple on the lake of eternity) but we tin can glimpse information technology. This is the wonder and pain of being human, and equally Barenboim says, the lesson music has to requite is that we must learn to yield as much as to manipulate.
This mental attitude shines through in this book. Arguments are made in linguistic communication, language is a tool of power. Arguments can defeat the purposes and processes of Anthropology. But there is no substitute for being there, there is nothing else.
...more thanต้องบอกก่อนว่า ผมค่อนข้างมีความหลังที่ไม่ค่อยดีนักกับหนังสือชุด ความรู้ฉบับพกพา ไม่อยากใช้คำว่าแขยงเลย พกพาจริงครับ พาไปไกล ๆ เลย... ชิบหายมึนหัวไปหมด อ่านไม่จบซักเล่ม!!!
จนมาเห็นคุณ Phakin N. (ขออนุญาตเอ่ยนาม) เพื่อนใน goodreads นี่แหละที่บอกว่าเล่มนี้ใคร ๆ ก็อ่านได้...
อ่าว ๆ ๆ ท้าทายผมเหรอ
จริงครับ หนังสือเล่มเล็ก ๆ เล่มนี้เหมาะมากกับการเปิดโลกทางด้านมานุษยวิทยาสำหรับคนทั่วไป เพราะมันได้พาเราไปรู้จักว่ามานุษยวิทยาคืออะไร มีคำกล
ถ้าถามว่ามานุษยวิทยาคืออะไร สำหรับผมแล้วบอกได้คำเดียวครับว่า ใบ้แดก!!ต้องบอกก่อนว่า ผมค่อนข้างมีความหลังที่ไม่ค่อยดีนักกับหนังสือชุด ความรู้ฉบับพกพา ไม่อยากใช้คำว่าแขยงเลย พกพาจริงครับ พาไปไกล ๆ เลย... ชิบหายมึนหัวไปหมด อ่านไม่จบซักเล่ม!!!
จนมาเห็นคุณ Phakin N. (ขออนุญาตเอ่ยนาม) เพื่อนใน goodreads นี่แหละที่บอกว่าเล่มนี้ใคร ๆ ก็อ่านได้...
อ่าว ๆ ๆ ท้าทายผมเหรอ
จริงครับ หนังสือเล่มเล็ก ๆ เล่มนี้เหมาะมากกับการเปิดโลกทางด้านมานุษยวิทยาสำหรับคนทั่วไป เพราะมันได้พาเราไปรู้จักว่ามานุษยวิทยาคืออะไร มีคำกล่าวว่าถ้าอยากรู้ว่ามานุษยวิทยาคืออะไรให้ดูว่านักมานุษยวิทยาทำอะไรบ้าง หนังสือเล่มนี้พาเราไปถึงจุดนั้นครับ
ผู้เขียนได้เล่าภาพกว้าง ๆ ของศาสตร์ทางด้านนี้ผ่านประสบการณ์ของตัวเองในฐานะนักมานุษยวิทยา โดยมุ่งเน้นให้เห็นถึงลักษณะการทำงาน รูปแบบวิธีการศึกษาและเป้าหมายของการศึกษามนุษย์ในเชิงสังคมและวัฒนธรรมผ่าน case written report ที่ผู้เขียนได้ลงพื้นที่ไปทำการศึกษา ซึ่งมันทำให้เราเห็นภาพของการทำงานมากขึ้น
และตอนนี้หากมีใครมาถามผมว่ามานุษยวิทยาคืออะไร ผมก็จะตอบว่า เป็นศาสตร์ที่ทำให้เราเข้าใจคนอื่นมากขึ้นยังไงละครับ
...moreThis wasn't one of the meliorate Very Short Introductions I've read. The subject field is extremely fascinating, a field I wanted some very basic orientation to (a desire that often leads me to the VSI series) and the authors brainstorm on a promising annotation, saying to look at what anthropologists do in order to empathise wh
"Indeed, anthropologists may sometimes exist carried away by the romance of their own enterprise and value the 'unspoiled' traditions of a order far more than the people themselves do," (26)This wasn't i of the better Very Curt Introductions I've read. The subject is extremely fascinating, a field I wanted some very basic orientation to (a desire that oftentimes leads me to the VSI series) and the authors begin on a promising note, saying to look at what anthropologists do in club to sympathize what anthropology is. They besides cover a adept number of topics, including civilisation, society, class, sex activity, and religion — but in a fashion that, to me, oft felt frustratingly disjointed, more than of a laundry list of topics and thinkers than a helpful synthesis.
That being said, affiliate 2 on "culture" and chapter 5 on various modes of manufactured solidarity à la Durkheim (caste, course, tribe nation) were interesting despite the uninspiring presentation. One theme the authors hit on several times is unity-in-diversity across cultures, as when they remark: "Human cultures, then, seem to be infinitely variable, but in fact that variability takes place inside the boundaries produced by physical and mental capacities. Human languages, for instance, are tremendously various. differing In audio, grammar, and semantics. But all are dependent upon what appears to be a uniquely human capacity and predisposition for learning languages," (43). Additionally, they highlight three ongoing sites of controversy about the idea of culture:
1. The extent to which a 'culture' should be regarded every bit an integrated whole — For anthropologists in the integrated whole camp, they mention 3 leading theories: (1) total pattern (Gestalt); (two) code or program; and formal organization. For anthropologists in the anti-integrated whole military camp, they use the metaphor of a bricolage.
2. The extent to which 'culture' can be seen as an autonomous, "superorganic" entity — Civilisation as an accreted and structuring coral reef (Alfred Kroeber) vs. civilisation as a shared site of "communicative symbols that [organize] diversity" (Anthony Wallace).
3. How to best get most drawing boundaries effectually 'cultures' — they talk about nationalism and the idea of an essence of a people (monolithic, extensive) vs. culture as a process, open up-concluded and melding.
I found myself firmly on the anti-integrated whole/non-superorganic/non-essentialist side of these disagreements. On the whole idea of a national spirit or essence, I specially liked Arjun Appadurai's point that "this premise [flies] in the face up of 'unequal knowledge and the differential prestige of lifestyles, and [discourages] attention to the globe views and agency of those who are marginalized and dominated.'" This point, never articulated as well as this, has always been one of my spontaneous dissenting reactions to essentializing paeans to "Western civilisation," from the likes of Scruton or Blossom. The War does not appear to want a folk-consciousness, not even of the sort the Germans have engineered (Gravity's Rainbow 133).
On cultural relativism, I liked this passage: "Taken to an extreme, a view of relativism that consigns the members of different cultures to utterly different worlds would make all translation impossible, including the translation performed in ethnography. As Dan Sperber has observed, 'the relativist slogan, that people of different cultures live in different worlds, would be nonsense if understood as literally referring to concrete worlds', and an extreme 'relativist in earnest should be either quite pessimistic virtually the possibility of doing ethnography at all or extraordinarily optimistic about the abilities of ethnographers,'" (64). Although, I probably ultimately agree with Clifford Geertz'south "anti-anti-relativism," which deflates the entire issue'southward importance: "the crimes committed in the name of cultural relativism stake in comparison to those committed in the proper noun of cultural and national chauvinism or, for that affair, near whatsoever other 'ism,'" (66).
I likewise think this is a VSI that could practice with a new edition, to expand and update some of the content (information technology was published in 2000) — specially, I thought, their pontification on "the end of nationalism," where the authors comically include a Reasonable Caveat that, of course, they tin't be certain how things volition go, but actually it does seem possible that nationalism and various tribalisms volition fade as globalism and a new melding cosmopolitanism takes over. In 2021 this seems very naïve.
...moreFaces expect ugly when you lot're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down
When you're strange
Faces come out of the rain
When y'all're strange
No 1 remembers your name
When you're strange
When you're strange
When you're strange
(The Doors)
We're all strangers somewhere. No matter how much we consider ourselves to be 'children of the globe', there'due south always going to exist someone that thinks of us as strangers, consummate with eerie mo
People are strange when you're a strangerFaces expect ugly when you're solitary
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down
When you're strange
Faces come out of the pelting
When you're strange
No one remembers your name
When you're strange
When you lot're foreign
When y'all're strange
(The Doors)
We're all strangers somewhere. No matter how much we consider ourselves to be 'children of the world', there's always going to exist someone that thinks of us equally strangers, complete with eerie mood music.
To me, anthropology is about these strangers - which means that it is about each and every ane of u.s..
Y'all might take the impression that anthropology is all about studying hitherto undiscovered people living in jungles or remote valleys - cutting off from the world - and it is! Just there's more.
You lot call up that movie - Crocodile Dundee, where this guy from the Australian Outback visits New York and has all kind of adventures and strange experiences with the 'natives' of New York? Well - the Outback guy is pretty much doing what an anthropologist would.
In fact, this is happening all the time. Too as 'advanced' civilisations monitoring, cataloguing and preserving data almost 'primitive' civilisations, the opposite is happening too.
Judging by the rate at which we are using this planet up, we could practice with being studied and preserved for posterity.
Maybe a bit of pickling wouldn't get awry too.
I couldn't really get into this book. Information technology seemed to exist written by erstwhile guys - people that learned their trade from people that studied their trade in the 1950s. It could take done with a fresher center really.
A better approach would exist to explain anthropology in terms of Scientific discipline Fiction movies. All those Alien and Predator movies would be ideal to starting time with, not to mention Avatar and ... and pretty much any Sci-Fi movie really.
In fact - when I think nigh it - aren't all movies near strangeness?
Let's take a random moving-picture show - 'Pretty Adult female' - one culture meets another culture and they study and ultimately salve each other - that's the essence of anthropology really I approximate.
Yes - skip this book and go to the movies instead.
As I sit hither and tipperty-tap my fingers on the keyboard, I'chiliad thinking about the new Terminator flick - Arnie's going to be back!
Yay for strangeness.
...more thanحقیقتاً مختصر و مفید به علم انسانشناسی پرداخته. با این همه کتاب رو به انتها نرسوندم. چرا؟ چون قرار نیست همه کتابها رو تا انتها خوند. چون ممکنه بعضی کتابها برای ما نوشته نشده باشه. سرنوشت این کتاب هم همین بود. کتابی نبود که به کار من بیاد. به همین خاطر تنها به خوندن برخی قسمتهای کتاب بسنده کردم و در نهایت ناتمام موند.
ในเเต่ละบท จะอธิบายถึงคอนเซปคร่าวๆถึงสิ่งที่มานุษยวิทยาได้ศึกษา เช่น ชาติพันธุ์ วัฒนธรรม ชนชั้น เพศ ศาสนา เเละอื่นๆมากมาย พวกเขามีมุมมองต่อสิ่งเหล่านี้ยังไง มีเเง่มุมใดบ้างที่น่าลงลึกศึกษา
เเม้เนื้อหาจะดูหนักหน่วง เเต่การร้อยเรียงอธิบายทำได้ดีมากครับ ไม่ยากจนเกินไปเเละไม่ง่ายจนเกินไป ถ้าคุ้นเคยกับกรอบทางสังคมวิทยาเเละมานุษยวิทยามาบ้าง การอ่านจะลื่นไหลมากเลย เเต่ถ้าไม่เคยผ่านตางานสายนี้เลย ผมคิดว่าก็อ่านได้เข้าใจไม่ยากนะครับ มีบ้างจุดที
เหมาะมากกับการเป็นหนังสือเล่มเเรกในการเข้าใจโลกของมานุษยวิทยาในเเต่ละบท จะอธิบายถึงคอนเซปคร่าวๆถึงสิ่งที่มานุษยวิทยาได้ศึกษา เช่น ชาติพันธุ์ วัฒนธรรม ชนชั้น เพศ ศาสนา เเละอื่นๆมากมาย พวกเขามีมุมมองต่อสิ่งเหล่านี้ยังไง มีเเง่มุมใดบ้างที่น่าลงลึกศึกษา
เเม้เนื้อหาจะดูหนักหน่วง เเต่การร้อยเรียงอธิบายทำได้ดีมากครับ ไม่ยากจนเกินไปเเละไม่ง่ายจนเกินไป ถ้าคุ้นเคยกับกรอบทางสังคมวิทยาเเละมานุษยวิทยามาบ้าง การอ่านจะลื่นไหลมากเลย เเต่ถ้าไม่เคยผ่านตางานสายนี้เลย ผมคิดว่าก็อ่านได้เข้าใจไม่ยากนะครับ มีบ้างจุดที่ต้องใช้สมาธิมากๆอยู่บ้าง เเต่ก็ส่วนน้อย นอกนั้นอ่านเพลินมากจริงๆ
สิ่งที่นักมานุษยวิทยาพยายามบอกเราก็คือ ไม่มีสิ่งใดคือความจริงสากล ทุกสิ่งทุกอย่างมีความหลากหลายอยู่ในตัว ไม่มีความคิดความเชื่อใดที่จะดำรงอยู่ในลักษณะที่เป็นความจริงเเท้เเน่นอน
ความหลากหลายคือความจริง เเต่เป็นความจริงที่คนเราไม่ยอมรับมันเท่าไหร่เลย...
...moreUsually inroductions are compiled equally textbooks serving the reader with definitions and typologies of the bones scientific language.
This short book all the same, approaches some of the about interesting report subjects of anthroplogy by offering an example from the career of the writers, so deconstructing it through several different scientific theories and viewpoints.
Piece of cake to read and easy to empathize, a great starting p A brusque, articulate, intelligent introduction to the subject of anthropology.
Usually inroductions are compiled as textbooks serving the reader with definitions and typologies of the basic scientific linguistic communication.
This short volume nevertheless, approaches some of the most interesting study subjects of anthroplogy by offering an instance from the career of the writers, and then deconstructing it through several different scientific theories and viewpoints.
Easy to read and easy to empathize, a great starting indicate for anyone seriously interested in cultural anthropology and its many facets. ...more
This brusque introduction shows how anthropologists remember rather than what anthropology is. It refers to nearly all major topics with arable examples some of which are from authors' ain fields. If you want the overview of the history of anthropology, this might be inadequate. Only nevertheless, a well-written nice introduction for beginn Having prepared for my specialization of anthropology, I establish that I'd never read an introductory book of it written in English. So I chose this 1 for the first step.
This curt introduction shows how anthropologists think rather than what anthropology is. It refers to almost all major topics with abundant examples some of which are from authors' ain fields. If yous want the overview of the history of anthropology, this might exist inadequate. But still, a well-written nice introduction for beginners. ...more
I read some of the other reviews. Many deem this likewise pedantic, too academic. I found it to be not nearly as intellectually stimulating as the other VSIs that I have read. There are some proficient thoughts, but nix earth shattering. I have never taken a course in anthropology or socio This is the first of these VSIs that I decided to read that is far removed from my formal discipline. It has also been my least favorite so far, but I don't believe ane observation to exist the explanation for the other.
I read some of the other reviews. Many deem this too pedantic, also bookish. I institute it to exist non well-nigh as intellectually stimulating as the other VSIs that I have read. There are some adept thoughts, but nothing earth shattering. I have never taken a course in anthropology or sociology for that thing. Thus I expected to learn a fair amount, but alas, was unfulfilled.
I expected a history of the discipline with highlights of the contribution of key players. There is some of that but less than predictable. When the authors were focusing on explaining the research practices of anthropologists, I thought perhaps I would go an explanations with applications from within their research. A trifle, but certainly not the focus. Okay, so perhaps a history of the field of study and the applications to many other cultures? Again, some mentions, merely not the focus.
In terms of the language used to educate the lay person or undergraduate, this is a lovely text. I have marveled at the skill of the other VSI writers to summarize their disciplines then succinctly. I feel as though these chaps didn't draw out the blue prints before starting construction and changed their contractors a couple times. ...more than
A very brusk though very rich intro to anthropology and absolute pleasure to read fifty-fifty if y'all're already familiar with these theories. Most introductory texts are oriented on theories and have more than encyclopaedic construction. This book differs from that style by more often than not telling stories from ii ethnographies by the authors themselves, while using these stories to illustrate anthropological theories.
A very short though very rich intro to anthropology and accented pleasure to read even if you're already familiar with these theories. ...more
Does anthropology present likewise small a cross department of interesting topics to be engaging, or u.s.a. this just a weak volume? I'll take to endeavour again to find out.
I decided it was time to learn a bit most anthropology,. But this book really didn't do annihilation to awaken an interest in me.Does anthropology present too small a cantankerous department of interesting topics to exist engaging, or us this merely a weak book? I'll accept to try again to discover out.
...moreHither are some of my favorite quotes:
If the way i perceives the earth is a product of ane'southward civilisation, so even more and so are the behavior, values, and social norms that govern i'southward behaviour. On what ground, so, tin can any ane gild claim a monopoly on moral truth or claim to have discovered a superior fix of norms and values? Behaviour that might exist nonsensical, illegal, or immoral in 1 society might be perfectly rational and socially accepted in another. ... One wonders, ultimately, if information technology is logically possible to simultaneously subscribe to both the notion of universal human rights and a conventionalities in the relativity of cultures. (p. 60,62)
In the aforementioned style, anthropologists accept long regarded the 'outsider's perspective' they bring to their subjects every bit one of the principal advantages of ethnographic method. A person studying his or her own culture can be likened to a fish trying to describe h2o. While the insider is capable of noticing subtle local variations, the outsider is far more probable to observe the tacit understandings that local people have for granted as 'common sense' or 'natural' categories of thought. (p.41)
The ethnographer faces more subtle difficulties, as well. Locally powerful individuals may endeavour to use the ethnographer every bit a prize or a pawn in their rivalries. Members of the community may have an exaggerated idea of what the ethnographer tin do for them, and make persistent demands that cannot be met. At the same time, the ethnographer frequently experiences the great joy of making new friends and the thrill of seeing and doing things he or she would never otherwise accept been able to encounter or do. As a day-to-day feel, fieldwork tin can exist filled with abruptly alternating emotional highs and lows. (p. 33)
Dialogue is the backbone of ethnography. While anthropologists make use of a variety of techniques to elicit and record data, the interview is by far the most important. Interviews can range in formality from highly structured question-and-respond sessions with indigenous specialists, to the recording of life histories, to breezy conversations, or to a take chances exchange during an unanticipated see. Ultimately, the key to ethnographic success is beingness in that location, available to observe, bachelor to follow upwards, available to accept advantage of the chance outcome. (p. 34)
Among the moral, philosophical, and political consequences of the emergence of the concept of culture has been the development of a doctrine of 'cultural relativism'. Nosotros start from the premise that our beliefs, morals, behaviours – fifty-fifty our very perceptions of the world around us – are the products of culture, learned as members of the communities in which we are reared. If, every bit we believe, the content of civilization is the product of the capricious, historical experience of a people, then what we are every bit social beings is besides an arbitrary, historical product. Because culture then securely and broadly determines our worldview, it stands to reason that we can have no objective basis for asserting that ane such worldview is superior to some other, or that i worldview tin can be used equally a yardstick to measure another. In this sense, cultures tin only exist judged relative to one another, and the meaning of a given belief or behaviour must kickoff and foremost be understood relative to its ain cultural context. That, in a nutshell, is the basis of what has come up to be called cultural relativism. (p. 59)
It is important to empathise that many anthropologists, especially in the United States, regard relativism not as a dogma or an ideological desideratum, only, at heart, as an empirical finding. (p. 59)
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